The Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Dr. Dakuku Peterside has stressed the need for stakeholders to actively participate in the Nigerian maritime sector in order to support the growth of the country’s blue economy.

Dr. Peterside who made this known while addressing stakeholders at the Harmonised NIMASA Stakeholders Interactive Forum with the theme “Synergy: An Instrument for Sustainable Development of the Blue Economy” which held on Friday at the Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos said that amount of littoral states in Nigeria and the length of the nation’s makes the development of Nigeria blue economy a necessity for the country’s benefit.

The NIMASA DG said that the Agency is currently on a mission of changing the landscape of the nation’s maritime domain by putting a policy framework in place to allow maritime business to thrive.
According to the DG, “Maritime provide a veritable opportunity for us to grow our economy. We will ensure we play our role by providing necessary policies for industry players to reap the benefits of participating in the sector in order to develop our blue economy for Nigeria’s benefit.”

Dr. Peterside however charged industry stakeholders to collaborate and cooperate with the Agency as it strives to create an enabling environment for them to operate adding that the Agency has created various platforms through which stakeholders can communicate with the Agency on various issues.

“The industry belongs to stakeholders, we must synergize to get the benefits embedded in maritime, and we must work together all the time because it is our priority that those who do business in the industry flourish in order to develop our blue economy.
“That is why we are in the process of acquiring more surveillance aircrafts and additional fast intervention vessels as enshrined in the new maritime security architecture approved by the Federal Executive Council to ensure that our maritime domain remains safe for doing business,” he said.

The NIMASA DG also hinted that as part of ensuring the Nigerians reap the benefits of the industry, said that the Agency is also carrying out a robust human capacity building for the sector.

He added that the Agency has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with some foreign schools to provide Sea time training to the graduates of the Nigerian Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP) which has hitherto been a challenge in the past.

Also at the event, the Chairman Governing Board of the Agency, Major General Jonathan India Garba (Rtd.) said that the Board would continue to support the Dr. Peterside led Executive Management by giving necessary approvals that would reform the Nigerian maritime sector for economic benefit.

In the same vein, the Chairman House Committee on Maritime Safety, Education and Administration, Mr. Muhammed Umar Bago, said that the Legislative arm of the government is ready to support NIMASA and Stakeholders by providing laws that would advance the country’s maritime sector.

Also speaking at the event, the Chairman of Nigerian Ports Consultative Council, Otunba Kunle Folarin commended NIMASA’s drive towards building capacity for the sector. He said that the effect of these drive would be felt in the industry sooner rather than later.

It would be recalled that Dr. Dakuku Peterside since assumption of duty had always advocated for stakeholders cooperation towards building a viable maritime sector. He has also championed the repositioning of the regulatory Agency for optimum service delivery.